Award-winning blog for book reviews, author interviews, and anything writing-related.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Interview with dark fantasy author Chad Hunter

My
special guest today is author Chad Hunter.
He’s sharing a bit with me about his new dark fantasy pirate novel, Windsong & Requiem – Of a Great Deep.

During
his virtual book tour, Chad will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble
(winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for
a chance to win, use the form below.
To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit
his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Chad Hunter was born in East
Chicago, Indiana. Raised by a single mother in the city's Harbor section, he is
the youngest of four. Growing up in the Midwest and a proudly self-proclaimed
"Region Rat," Hunter has written and published several books and
novels. He has written for magazines and newspapers throughout North America
and has been published in several languages. His writings have been called
sophisticated yet humorous, sharp witted and unrelenting.

Most often, Hunter's writings
have been considered so wide and diverse that they span a scale that would
include multiple writers with multiple forms. In addition to being a published
author and journalist, Hunter is also a professional speaker. Having presented
to high schools, colleges and various other audiences, his talks and discussions
center around the positive impact of literary and creative presences in one’s
life. A large portion of Hunter’s focus is on the uncanny strength of human
connectedness which is emphasized via the lens of writing and creativity.

Working in genres including dark
fantasy, memoirs, science-fiction and anecdotal collections, Hunter weaves
tales of monsters, heroes, zombies, wedding planning, technology, pirates and
even black parakeets. With over ten books under his belt, If anything binds his
varied styles, it is Hunter's theme of the human condition, humor and family
closeness - all to the backdrop of romantic love, vibrant remembrance and even
monsters themselves.

Please share a little
bit about your current release.

Of a Great Deep is the first in a
series of pirate fiction featuring the captain and crew of the Requiem. The
ship is led by the bold, brash, noble and somewhat trustworthy Captain Nabopollassar
“Bo” Travis. The book description is as follows -

The year is 1716. The
world is in the Golden Age of Piracy and fabled ships sail the seven seas. One
such vessel is the Requiem, captained by the young but wise, brave but dubious
Nabopolassar “Bo” Travis. Alongside his first mate Ghassan, quartermaster
Winter Burke and navigator Glover, Travis seeks treasure, female company and
good drink. The Requiem’s legendary adventures are filled with tales of
monsters and myths - all of which are true. Now, someone or something is
sailing the seas in search for a treasure chest – a chest that holds unknown
riches which only promise to change the world forever. Captain Travis, his crew
and a beautiful young map reader must brave the dark and the deep to find the
treasure. Will the Requiem find the X on the spot before the infamous Captain
George “Bloody-Face” Fiddick does? Will Travis uncover the secret behind the
cursed black ship which changed his young life forever? And will the treasure
chest truly be full of riches or does something far more insidious lie in wait?
Ready your flintlock. Sharpen your sword. The Requiem awaits.

What inspired you to
write this book?

I
realize that seven-year-old Chad is controlling adult Chad! All the things that
I liked as a child, I still enjoy as an adult. Only now I get to add to these
worlds myself. As for pirates, they represent such a feeling of freedom and
self-reliance that I find it refreshing in today’s world of meetings, emails
and offices. The open seas, to this day, still contain so much mystery that
there is an endless amount of wonder and adventure just waiting to be written.

Excerpt from Windsong & Requiem – Of a Great Deep

"CAPTAIN!" the navigator called out.
"THERE'S WOOD! WOOD IN THE WATER!"

"Captain,"
puffed Glover, out of breath after checking multiple angles of the sea from the

ship's deck and masts,
"There's no ship out there! Just more wood, more debris! Some

vessel crashed out
there!"

"Pray, Mr. Glover
that a crash is what did it --!"

"CAPTAIN!"
came a scream from the crow's nest. "IN THE WATER!" Travis looked

over to the deck. In
one smooth motion, he grabbed, extended and searched feverishly

through the eyeglass
previously swinging at his side.

The ship's captain
looked out at the water by the debris. There were countless white orbs,

small, very small,
bobbing in the water.

"--dear
God..." Travis whispered. His crew all turned to him. They hung on his
words as

only the first mate
seemed to know what was transpiring. Few things rattled Bo and when

something shook him, it
boded ill for all involved. Especially his crew.

His attention fell to
the water and the white orbs bobbing with the waves. "--eyes---"

And with that, the crew
of the Requiem could see the bloodied and veined composition of

the surface of
disembodied optical organs and their swirling nerve endings and loose tendon

and muscle.

"ALL HANDS! PREPARE
TO FIGHT!" Captain Travis commanded.

What exciting story are
you working on next?

I’m
working two novels at the same time – a sequel to my dark fantasy “The Monster Man – King of Fools.” The
sequel will be titled “The Monster Man –
A Ghost Who Bleeds.” Additionally, I’m writing a horror weird west tale. On
the side, in my free-time (LOL!) I’m working on a series of children adventures
geared at teaching through exciting characters.

When did you first
consider yourself a writer?

The
ripe old age of six. I just didn’t phrase it that way. I wrote and drew a comic
book (that was fairly terrible!) For the longest time, I focused on learning
art but I also pursued writing and journalism. Eventually, in school, I had to
write a short story and I realized that writing had a greater pull than art. Not
long after that, I continued to write short stories and eventually a novel. And
then another and another and so on…

Do you write full-time?
If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and
how do you find time to write?

I’m
a full-time computer guy and a college instructor! Go figure! I wake up earlier
than my family and I write. I go to bed later than my family and I write. I
schedule times to write on lunch also. I make sure I plan what I’m writing so
that I don’t end up sitting in front of a keyboard with a blank screen. That’s
the fine line between being creative and being disciplined – scheduling strict
time to mentally run wild. If it sounds easy, it’s not.

What would you say is
your interesting writing quirk?

I
love muses when I write – things that inspire the thoughts and the mood around
whatever I’m writing. So, for example, as I’m currently writing this western, I
am surrounded by items that put me in a mode of western atmosphere. There’s
some plastic cowboy action figures, an old pop gun six shooter and a deck of
cowboy playing cards. When I was writing Of
a Great Deep, my writing desk was covered with fake pirate treasure, some
pirate action figures and there may have been some rum. Just for show of
course…

As a child, what did
you want to be when you grew up?

Full
grown. LOL! I wanted to be all the standard little boy stuff – firefighter,
astronaut and super-hero. As I got older, I realized I was too short for
basketball and too small for football so sports was out. I realized that
writing was something that spoke to my very essence and it was from then on
that I knew I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.

Anything additional you
want to share with the readers? Gratitude – because it is a very special
relationship between a writer and readers. They’re sharing a world with me and
it’s my job to make sure that the world is represented correctly and that they
have a good time visiting it.

I'm listed!

Blog Tour Partner - Goddess Fish

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About Me

I'm a NH native and love New England. I love writing about the region, exploring it on foot, on my bicycle, and in my car. There are so many small communities and fun and interesting people in this area, that I could be here a lifetime and not do all it is I want to do. :)

I'm a moderator at The Writer's Chatroom that hosts live chats with guest authors on Sunday nights 7-9PM EST. Join the e-mail list to get notifications of upcoming guests, then stop in and join the conversation!